My basement fills up more and more every day of college student paraphernalia as summer has arrived and the gals are just storing away their goods until the fall. So I said goodbye to a few until their junior year brings them back to this town and the second half of their college careers.

And then for some of my other college students who are walking through hard seasons – big choices, heartbreak, change that they don’t know how to handle, I feel like a triage nurse just trying to keep the emotional bleeding from getting out of control.

And so, at the end of the day, when all this had built up and because I am me and I have been me for almost 33 years, I cried into my cereal, as one hand held the spoon and the other held my head.

I cried because some of my favorite humans who are also like family who are also seniors in college are graduating and the change that will bring to my life is more than I ever expected. And I feel the loss so deep that I can barely breathe when I think about it.

I cried because on the last day of the month all the finances for that month come in and go out and God allows me to practice faith and trust a lot in this area.

I cried because the war for our hearts never end when you are a believer, and I’m watching as people I love dearly are in the spiritual cross-hairs and can hardly stand under the weight of it. I cried because I know it doesn’t end. I cried because the enemy of our hearts doesn’t play by any rules and it sucks.

Trust me, I know Who wins in the end, but it doesn’t make the day to day battling pain-free.

I cried as I read 2 Corinthians. Not for my life, but for the lives of those I love that are feeling it.

We are hard pressed on every side,

but not crushed;

perplexed,

but not in despair;

persecuted,

but not abandoned;

struck down,

but not destroyed.

I sing it over them as I pray. I feel it in my bones.

If you feel that today too, trust the Word of God. You are not crushed. Those you love will not live in despair. You are not abandoned. You, your people, your heart – they will not be destroyed.

I love the honest of this post. I do not do well with change , especially the kind of change that causes my loved ones to move farther from me(I’m the girl that cried everyday in pre-school when my mom would drop me off). I like having my people near me all the time and I don’t like to think of things ever changing or anybody ever leaving. It’s just so hard.

As I read this post, I thought, “I’ve had seasons like that.” It’s comforting and encouraging to know that I’m not the only one and neither are you. In some seasons, ministering to and loving college students is as hard as it is rewarding (which is a lot!) but always worth it.

Annie, I work at a christian university…. the 8 girls I’ve mentored and had Bible study with for the last four years are graduating in a week, and I can barely take it! I can’t believe they won’t be piling into my house each week, stopping by my office everyday, meeting me for lunch all the time… just too much! I hear you! As I pray for my heart during this change, I’ll be praying for yours as well!

I hear ya! Thanks for the link to the post about teachers. It is that time of year, and I am dealing with weight of having students that are losing it after a great year. I feel like I am holding them in place till the last bell rings.

As well, I am learning the power in recognizing the fact that things are hard and that’s okay because God brings down walls, defeats nations, crowns kinds, makes mountains tremble, and he can certainly keep 7th graders from falling apart until the end of school! (And me as well!)

Tears in my pizza. Sometimes the best posts are those in the moment that are real and raw with emotion and that’s what this is. And it’s so funny how the spirit moves us. Right now, I’m feeling 2 Corinthians. I just happened to pick up my computer and thought — I need to check in on some of my favorite Christian bloggers and this is the first I read. The Lord knows what we need, when we need it and he crafts some interesting ways of making sure we get it. Your blog gave me a moment of clarity I’ve been praying about regarding career and finances. TRUST ME, he says. TRUST ME! Thanks for sharing your heart with us, Annie. And most importantly, your heart for Jesus.

What an honest post – and one that various aspects of resonates with many of us, it seems. And probably also with more who may not be willing to say it just yet.

Amen to this: Trust me, I know Who wins in the end, but it doesn’t make the day to day battling pain-free.

Not only does it not make the day to day battling pain-free, it also doesn’t make it any easier. So glad we know the ‘ending’ and that even when sometimes it doesn’t feel that way, He’s still in control!